— Paid Notice Space —
Florence Lawrence

Photo: Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

File No. 869140  ·  Adjudicated

Florence Lawrence

Actor — The Biograph Girl, over 250 silent films

Born
1886
Birthplace
HAMILTON, ONTARIO
Citizenships
CA

Canadianness Score

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁
4.0/ 5
Weighted across 2 scored criteria

Designation

Johnny Canuck 🦸

Canadian to the core. May have moved, but still calls everyone “bud”.

Scorecard

Path A — born on Canadian soil
I. Origin
Born on Canadian soil — yes
HAMILTON, ONTARIO
Canadian parentage — not scored
No Canadian parents on record
Citizenship on record — not scored
Automatic by birth
II. Residency
Formative years spent in Canada — no
Raised elsewhere
Lived in Canada by choice — not scored
Residency on record as an adult
Worked or filmed in Canada — not scored
Credits filed north of the 49th
III. Cultural evidence — not scored
Section III is recorded for the file only. Birth on Canadian soil already settles the matter.
Publicly claims to be Canadian — not scored
Says so, out loud
Canada claims them back — not scored
No claim lodged

Fun fact

She's widely credited as film history's first named movie star — before her, studios deliberately kept actors anonymous to avoid paying them more.

The verdict

Born in Hamilton, but the family moved to Buffalo not long after her parents separated when she was four — early enough that her whole acting childhood happened on the American side. Known as 'the first movie star,' with nearly 300 silent films to her name. Four points, Johnny Canuck.

Adjudicated by
The Standings Committee
Status
Final — appealable
— Paid Notice Space —
References — en.wikipedia.org